Richard Cromwell (actor)

This is a page about the American actor Richard Cromwell. For the British ruler and prominent historical figure of the 17th century of the same name, see Richard Cromwell.

Early Life

Cromwell was born in Long Beach, California on January 8, 1910, the oldest in a family of five children. His father Hobart Radabaugh, an inventor, died of a sudden illness, most likely influenza during the Spanish flu pandemic, when Cromwell was still in grade school. While helping his young widowed mother, Faye Stocking Radabaugh, to support the family with odd-jobs, Cromwell enrolled as a teenager in the Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles on a scholarship. As Cromwell developed his talents for lifelike mask-making and oil-painting, he curried friendships in the late 1920s with various then-starlets who posed for him including Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Crawford, Anna Q. Nilsson, Greta Garbo, and even Marie Dressler (whom he would later share top-billing with in 1932's Emma).

Related Topics:
Long Beach, California - January 8 - 1910 - Influenza - Spanish flu - Pandemic - 1920s - Tallulah Bankhead - Joan Crawford - Anna Q. Nilsson - Greta Garbo - Marie Dressler - Emma

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